New Chairman for Roche

Roche‘s board will propose Christoph Franz to be elected as chairman of the board at the annual shareholders meeting on March 4, 2014. Mr. Franz is a member of Roche’s board and currently serves as the chief executive officer of Lufthansa. If elected, Mr. Franz will succeed Franz B. Humer, who announced at the 2013 shareholder meeting that he would not be standing for re-election. Mr. Franz’s contract at the Lufthansa Group expires on May 31, 2014 and will not be renewed.

Mr. Humer commented, “With Christoph Franz, Roche is getting a chairman with outstanding personal qualities and an impressive record as head of a major global company. I am sure that his extensive experience, exceptional global network and strong links to Switzerland will be great assets.”

Mr. Franz added, “Roche is an outstanding company. As a board member I have had ample opportunity to get to know and admire its strong business performance and corporate culture. Strategically, Roche is in very good shape, and I am looking forward to taking on this opportunity.”